My family and I just came back from a three-week mission trip to Haiti. It was a very good mission trip. It may be true that our four children (Jennifer, Gueshnia, Catherine, and Caleb) enjoyed it more than my wife and I for it was for both of us three weeks of hard work. Praise be to God – we got a lot accomplished.

On July 6th, we flew from Miami to Port-au-Prince and from Port-au-Prince we flew with MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) to Pignon. There we loaded our 98 Toyota pick up and drove one hour and a half to Saint Michel. We spent our first week doing training and preparation for our most anticipated Vacation Bible School. My wife, Genese, trained teachers from all three of our churches in preparation for VBS.

Our theme for this year was “Knowing God” (Konnen Bondye as we said in Creole). Before I went down to Haiti I wrote the lessons. My wife found the songs, Gueshnia our second daughter made all the drawings according to each lesson. She did a great job. This VBS was a blessing. By the end of the week, we had 750 children. Our school bus went everyday to pick up children in L’Attalaye and Lacide. (two other villages where Living Hope has ministry.) Every day during the vacation Bible school, we fed the children with a hot meal. They received prizes and on the last day all the parents came in for the closing ceremony.

That same week, while all the fun was taking place in Camathe, I was teaching at our Theological Seminary in St Michel. We had 20 students who came from different parts of the country. However, the big event took place on Saturday July 18th. It was the graduation of our second promotion. Three students received their license in Theology and pastoral studies after 5 years of hard work.

With God’s help through our employees (we have close to 100 fulltime employees) with your support, we have been able to show the love of Jesus. As we had done in the past, this year my wife organized a party for all of our employees. We also brought them some gifts like deodorant, toothpaste, and other items. The goal was to thank them on behalf of our Board. Two of them were selected as employees of the year. They were: Wisnel Pierre the assistant principal at Mary Babcock Elementary school and Paulette Jean Baptiste the Secretary. Mr.Wilsnel is often the first employee to show up to work and he is the last one to leave the school. When he does not see a student at school he goes to his house to visit him or her. Sometimes during the week, he works with students to help them catch up. Ms. Paulette during her time at the main office has transformed our administration. She has made everyone more welcome.

During our stay in Camathe, we had numerous staff meetings as we are preparing for the reopening of school September 7th 2009. It has been a busy summer to get all our schools ready to receive all our kids. Our Elementary school in Camathe, Mary Babcock is doing very well. Last year we had 700 students. This year, we plan to have 850 students. We just hired two more teachers which brings our total teachers at Mary Babcock in Camathe to 16. Enrollment is under way. We are repairing desks, classrooms, and books. My wife painted 3 PreK classrooms while she was down there.

Trinity High School is doing well. This year we will reach 11th grade. Last year, we had a student body of 175. This year, we will probably have over 200. The elementary schools in Lacide and in L’Attalaye are C+ schools. Considering the environment when we started, we have made good progress. This is our hope this year we will move to be a B school. This is encouraging to see that sending kids to school is becoming part of the culture in those areas. Next year we plan to start Middle School in L’Attalaye. We just concluded our first year at our Technical school. Through the year, we had lost some students. It was our first year in the technical school business. We are learning from our mistakes as are we preparing for a better year. Next year, our first promotion will be graduated in Electricity, Construction, Computer, and Business trade.

St Michel, a city of 150,000 people, does not have a good hospital. We have concluded that our medical center can better serve the greater St Michel area. In order to get to this point we have hired a hospital administrator. His name is Jean Judner Jasmin. He is a graduate in administration from Port-Au-Prince University (PU). Also, He is also a graduate from our Theological Seminary. He was the administrator of a larger Mission. We hope to add some other services to our medical center.

Our first Christian Economic Development (CEDC) project is about to open. We plan to have the grand opening next month of a corn and millet grinder. The village where it is located has never had a grinder. In the same center will have a convenience store to sell basic articles to the 15,000 people who live in the village and in its surroundings. Finally we will open a bakery at that center. The goal is create jobs and generate some revenues.

Each of our churches has become a light in its community. The gospel has been preached. The Holy Spirit has added souls to his kingdom through our churches in Camathe, Lacide, and L’Attalaye. Furthermore, our church buildings have become the building of the village for social and cultural formation. They are a place for Boys and Girls Scout to meet, and the Farmer Association. They are used as a Voting Poll, and the list goes on. Our challenges are greater than our accomplishments. Haiti is a very needy county. It seems that the only hope is foreign missionaries. We are respected in St Michel because we have been able to accomplish what we have promised. Last year students were very reluctant to get enrolled in our Technical School for they had heard empty promises before. However, when they heard it was Living Hope, in one day 250 students registered. Because of your support and your prayers we have been able to show the love of God. This is our hope that we will be able to continue to change lives as we expand our schools, provide more health care, create small business opportunity, provide skills to the young people to earn a living, and as we are proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dr. Gueillant Dorcinvil,

President of Living Hope Haiti Mission